LightChasers Photography » images

FPT Hi-5

Luis — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 01:16:26 +0000

We didn’t blog about the FPT Metro Perfect 10, but we did post quite a few images from that event on our Facebook page. In fact, we have albums for the final 18, the final 9, and heads up play. Since that took place a few months ago, we don’t think it’s quite timely to blog about it now. Instead, we’re blogging about another, more recent FPT event: the FPT Metro Hi-5.

We weren’t around for the first few days of the tournament, but we were there for the final day – and it was quite a day. Play began a bit later than the planned 2:00 p.m. start, and ran well into past the night and into the next day. We’ve decided to share a handful of images with you – don’t you feel so privileged? =)

Check them out after the jump, and click on any of them to see a larger image.

Sitting down with Noel, Alan, and Eugene

Vic looking tough for the cameras

The stray cat (pusang gala) can't help but smile

"Don't you dare touch my chips!"

The man gives final instructions

Maike takes a breather before the cameras roll

We're down to the last 18 players

I want a good, clean fight... wait... wrong sport...

Look at that stack of chips...

Pusang Gala loosely translated: stray cat

"Ok masahista ko! (My masseuse is pretty good!)"

Who has the best poker face?

"I want that one too!"

Ozzie (did I spell it right?) seems pretty happy

Uh, oh!

Everybody's happy

Everybody's still happy

We're in the final table!

Take cover!

1,384,625... 1,384,626... 1,384,627...

Willing the flop to go his way...

Watching the turn

PUSANG GALA!!!!

Somebody's happy

What's up?

Yeah!

"That's it for me."

Don, Freddy, & Vic

We gotta give props to the host, right?

Who wants the trophy?

"We're down to the final two players..."

"How bad do you want it?"

"Salamat sa inyong lahat (Thank you, everbody)"

One last time: PUSANG GALA!!!

FPT Hi-5 winner Vic de Guzman

We submitted quite a few more to PokerStars, but we didn’t think you’d want to see all of them here. Besides, it would’ve taken ages for all of that to load. Anyway, we hope you liked what we’ve shared with you here.

On one last note, if you want to read about the event, you can check out the following:

Nico & Sarah

Luis — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 03:44:44 +0000

I covered a wedding reception recently – you read that right: a wedding reception. I totally missed the wedding itself.

Mind you, I wasn’t hired to cover the wedding. Heck, I wasn’t even there to cover their first reception. Instead, they flew all the way from California to the Philippines to have a second reception – that is what I covered.

The tiny image you see on the left (click on it to see something larger) is one of the products of that coverage. Yeah, their wedding was a few weeks earlier, but they still wanted to get some more portraits for their album, so we played around as the reception came to a close. We found a little love seat, set up a couple of lights, tore apart a few dozen roses, and made a big mess. The image you see is the result of that mess.

Of course, that isn’t the only image from the whole event. I still have quite a few images from the wedding (yes, the wedding I missed) to share with you. After the jump, you can check out a few spreads from the wedding preparations as well as the wedding itself.

Like I mentioned, I wasn’t there for the wedding, so credit for the photography goes to my (now Singapore based) colleague, Sly Samonte. The last spread, however, focuses on the Philippine reception. I think most of those images are mine, but at this point, I don’t really know and I don’t really care. All I care about is that Nico and Sarah love the album.

Twenty One Plates

Luis — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 01:36:52 +0000

Twenty One Plates is a new(ish) restaurant in Parañaque with… well… 21 plates on their menu. The dish you see on the left is just one of them. If you follow the jump, you’ll see a small sampling of those dishes.

Before getting to the images though, I’d like to say that the dishes don’t just look good – they taste wonderful. Everything you’re about to see is edible… very edible! My team and I ended up sampling most of the 21 dishes, and we were stuffed silly. I would definitely love to eat here again.

With that plug over, now we go on to the images:

Mixed Greens with Balsamic Vinaigrette

I’m not sure exactly what it’s called, but it’s got 3 (or 4) different varieties of tomatoes in the sauce, and it’s yummy!

Again, I’m not sure what this is called, but sun-dried tomatoes, basil, chorizo (I think) and other good stuff definitely make for some great flavor.

Chicken cutlets, a tasty hot sauce, some yellow rice… yum!!!

Dessert, anyone?

The best carrot cake.

Korean Beef Stew to die for… and with San Miguel to go along with it, you’ll be in heaven.

Spiced Calabasa (Pumpkin, I believe) Soup

(Not So) Greek Salad – Sukang Iloko instead of lemons gives this Greek Salad a different twist

Tuna Croquetas to start with – these little babies will disappear quickly.

Twenty One Plates
205 Aguirre Avenue
BF Homes, Parañaque

food styling for some dishes by Jan Uichico

One last note: if you want to see what the place looks like, check out Jayvee’s post on Twenty One Plates.

APPT Manila 2008 @ Poker Magazine Finland

Luis — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:07:22 +0000

I know it’s a bit late, but I really should share with you some images that found their way to the the pages of Poker Magazine Finland.

Yeah, the collage you see on the left is pretty small, but you can see a (slightly) larger version of it after the jump.

In case some of the images look familiar, they’re from the Manila leg of APPT 2008. I wish I could say that we took the cover shot, but I can’t – that’s just there so you know what the front of the magazine looks like.

I also wish I could include snippets from the article that I found particularly interesting or insightful, but unfortunately, I can’t read Finnish. All I can tell you is that the article was about, well, APPT Manila.

Anyway, follow the jump to see more.

Alex & Via

Luis — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 06:38:40 +0000

I found myself in Tagaytay again recently – once again covering a wedding. The bride & groom, Alex & Via, had already hired another team to cover the wedding, but decided to get me to give them a different set of images. I let the other team take the lead – there were, after all, six of them (photographers & videographers alike) working while I was shooting solo. I let them direct the action while I stood back and watched things unfold. In other words, I was almost purely a photojournalist.

I say “almost purely a photojournalist” because I still staged a set of formal portraits as well as some images of the rings (including the image you see to the left). I also took a few group shots at the end of the day because the couple asked me to. Otherwise though, I tried to stay as unobtrusive as possible.

I realize I try to do this with my usual wedding coverage, but this time, it was even easier than usual because as I’ve already mentioned, there were six other people tasked with covering the events of the day. I didn’t need to go from table to table taking group shots – that’s not what I was there for. I was there to give a different perspective – so that’s what I did.

Now, the set of images below is a small sample of what I’ve given Alex & Via. It is also composed of only black & white images. Why? Well, while I was processing the images, I found myself converting a lot of them to black & white – it’s that simple. Somehow, I ended up with so many of them – enough to fill up an album – that I decided to make this post completely in black & white. I’m sure I’ll be giving them both color and black & white images for the final album, but I think this set looks pretty good despite the lack of color.

So, what do you think?

To Alex & Via, I hope you enjoyed this little album. I’ll be dropping by again soon with another album – this time something you can actually hold in your hands.

APPT Manila 2008

Luis — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 05:38:00 +0000

I’m blogging live from APPT Manila 2008 on a short break from my photography duties. I’m pulling the latest batch of images from my cards, and with the free net access here, I might as well blog about the event, right?

I’m not quite sure what to say right now, so you might as well check out the Poker Stars Blog (specifically APPT Manila Coverage) to see the latest images (and of course news) from the event. There are other sites too, but I don’t know what they are yet.

I’ll probably post a few more links later if I find the time. In the meantime, you can follow the jump to see a bunch of images.

Click here to see the whole set on Flickr. There might be more up there by the time you read this, but at the time this post is published, that’s everything.

Jose & Tinette

Luis — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 06:27:42 +0000

A couple of weeks ago, I travelled to Tagaytay with fellow photographer Sly Samonte to cover the wedding of our friends Jose & Tinette. This wedding wasn’t like most other weddings here – it was a much simpler affair.

It still isn’t the beach wedding I’ve been dreaming of covering, but it was still quite a beautiful occasion, and it was a joy to cover.

Enough of all the talk though – let’s get to the images.

Top left is little Mika – I still can’t quite decide if she looks like her dad or her mom, but I think you can decide for yourself as you see the rest of the images. Below that is her mom, the bride. Yes, she did her own make-up – I know that’s not very common here, but like I said, it’s not like most weddings here.

To the right is the groom waiting outside the room while his bride gets into her gown. The bride and groom saw each other before the wedding? I’ll say it again, it’s not like most weddings.

You want proof that the Jose and Tinette were in the same place? This is it – that’s the couple walking down the same hallway you saw earlier. Normally, you’d see just the bride, her face covered in a veil. That wasn’t the case here – you’ve got the bride with no veil on her head, the groom at her arm, and the beginnings of a laugh on her face.

Fortunately, we still got a little bit of alone time with Tinette for her portraits. As usual, my favorite shot from the set wasn’t a planned one. In the image here, she suddenly struck a pose – and we ended up with a fantastic shot for the album.

Going again with the not-your-typical-wedding theme, the bride and the groom walked the aisle together. Here, it looks like they’re asking each other if they’re ready for this.

The answer to the previous question, obviously, was yes. That means I can share a couple of solemn and joyful moments with you.

Of course, the first kiss is a must-have. Also here are some other portraits of the newlyweds. Sly took the one on the upper right – I just provided the light.

These shots pale in comparison to the next image though – what is probably one of the cutest first kiss images I’ve ever gotten.

Come on… you have to admit it’s cute.

Ok, this next one isn’t quite as cute, but I really like it. I wish I could say I took it, but Sly took this one too. I was too busy packing gear so we could move on to the reception.

If I remember correctly, in every wedding I’ve covered, there has been a cute little kid that simply loved having his or her picture taken. In this wedding, this little girl in the green dress played that role.

If I also remember correctly, I’ve never had the bride and groom take over the exit at their reception. Jose and Tinette did just that – they stood by the door and made sure almost everybody had a picture with the couple before they left. I say almost everybody because a few people had already left by the time Jose and Tinette blocked the exit.

Of course, while nobody was leaving, the couple took time to give each other some attention.

What are these last two images? The one on the left is the last photo of one of those glasses – I accidentally smashed it moments after I took this image (yes, I smashed something again). The groom then immediately informed me that out of over 200 guests, I was the only one who ended up breaking a glass. Thank goodness I didn’t smash any glass on my lenses. Anyway, breaking a glass at a wedding is supposed to be good luck, right?

What’s the story behind the image on the right? Well, that’s just a shot of the boys at the wedding horsing around. While the bride was getting dressed (remember the hallway shot from the first set of images above?), we had nothing better to do. The dude with shaved head is Jose, the groom. The ones in white are his brothers. The guy in the suit is Pao – I’m not quite what exactly he did, but he definitely helped keep everything running smoothly that day. The gun in blue is Christian (a.k.a. X) – he shot the video. The other guys in black (but not in suits) are the two photographers – Sly is on the top right holding the flash that lit us up and I’m holding the camera. Yes, I had to share that image.

Photographs & Broken Picture Frames

Luis — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 05:29:47 +0000

I took some portraits recently of three (or was it four?) different generations of a family and ended up with the image you see on the left. What is it?

It’s a piece of a picture frame that ended up smashed into little pieces. I placed it near the edge of a table while trying to stage an image I had in my head – it landed on the floor less than two minutes later. Needless to say, I didn’t move any other breakables around that day.

Fortunately, I ended up with more than a shattered picture frame. Check out some of my favorite images (and maybe a short story about each) after the jump.

It seems like the men in the family didn’t really smile a whole lot, but when they did, you knew you would end up with a fantastic portrait. Take, for example, this jolly man above. To me it seemed like everytime he laughed or smiled, he looked a whole decade younger. I still have to smile when I see shots of him smiling like this.

On the other hand, this little boy didn’t want to smile for me. I took the image above and showed it to him hoping for some reaction – I got a poker face. Oh well – at least the rest of the family seems to love that shot.

As a photographer, catching a couple in “a moment” is, for lack of a better way of putting it, a cheap thrill. In the images above, I caught Lolo and Lola (Filipino for Grandpa and Grandma) in one such moment. I know she’s not fixing his tie (he’s not wearing one), so I guess he’s fixing his collar, or maybe brushing something off his cheek. I don’t really know what she’s doing, but all I know is I almost missed this moment.

Of course, a little post-processing helps. You see, I practically shot this from the hip – I ended up with a skewed (around 10 degrees, I think) and off-center image. Thanks to the wonder of post-processing (and yes, you can do this in a darkroom), I got better symmetry, and best of all, you don’t have to tilt your head. Also, you can check out the image in its original colors over on Flickr.

These are a few of my favorites from that day. I hope you enjoyed them too.

Leyland Tractor

Luis — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 14:04:17 +0000

I see this tractor most days on my way home. I kept saying that it was begging to be photographed, but I never got around to doing anything about it.

A few months ago, I parked my car several yards away (I only had my 85mm) and grabbed this image. After this, I kept saying I’d go back with a wider lens. Over three months later, I’ve yet to revisit the tractor.

I have, however, played around with the image – I’ve cropped it to a square and converted it into black and white. You can click on the thumbnail above to see a larger image on Flickr, or better yet, follow the jump.

What do you think? Also, can you guess what color the tractor really is?

Gallery: From Darkness to Light

Luis — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 08:37:04 +0000

I recently mentioned that I was looking for gallery software. Well, it looks like our recent upgrade may just be the solution. In a way, this post is a test of WordPress 2.5’s muti-file upload and built-in galleries. Considering the number of images, it’s also going to test our servers, not to mention your connection.

If everything goes well, you’re going to see 600 images from a recent concert shoot below. Less than half of them are mine though – Claire, another member of the LightChasers team, shot most of the close-ups. I snuck in a few photos with my 85mm, but I pretty much stuck with my wide lens for most of the concert.

Anyway, if you think the number seems pretty large, don’t worry – we think so too. We were quite reluctant to trim down too much, and besides, we were feeling pretty generous. What we’re worried about now is the amount of bandwidth all these images will consume. If you think things will be fine, follow the jump.

Quite an eyeful, isn’t it? I still don’t quite believe we shot so much (over 12GB combined), but hey, can you blame us? Shooting concerts is a whole lot of fun.

From Darkness to Light